The Clintons' new campaign manager: Jean Chrétien
By Michael Moriarty
web posted June 16, 2003
When an established political family again seeks power, it needs
someone to play the "pit bull." This creature is basically an attack
dog that will maim the family's opponents before the leader steps
in to perform the coup de grâce. The rituals of bullfighting are the
underlying formula. Someone in the campaign must play the
picador before the matador -- the family's "godfather" -- shows
up to push the sword firmly into the heart of the bull.
Although Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien speaks French,
he has the hidden instincts of a Doberman pincher.
On May 27, Chrétien was reportedly "slamming" U.S. President
George W. Bush. This belies the claim that the soon-to-be-
retired Chrétien disagreed with the "moron" pejorative directed
at Bush earlier this year by his former communications director
(and future Senator) Francine Ducros. The PM's remarks on a
flight to the G-8 Summit in Athens expanded on the theme that
the President is indeed a moron, a man from the Dark Ages.
Socialism, the religion that both the PM and former U.S.
President Bill Clinton belong to, has built a very tight international
family. Its appeal to the so-called "disenfranchised" -- women,
labor, North American minorities and the entire Third World --
are sermons from the pulpits that encourage the congregation to
scream out the injustices of an "American imperialism."
Bernard Henri Lévy, the brilliant French-Algerian writer, stated
quite simply: "The rise of anti-Americanism is a sure sign of the
rise of fascism."
Since socialism is basically a Robin Hood adventure, it is quite
clear, from the history of its achievements, that when a Robin
Hood -- such as former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau --
becomes King John, his successors evolve into the likes of
Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Fidel
Castro, Kim Jong Il and a raft of lesser wannabe dictators all
over the socialist world. Where Chrétien falls into this evolution
has yet to be seen. His foreign and defense policy is clearly
presented as Canada's desire to be the Switzerland of North
America.
God bless Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair for not shunning
the unsavory task of playing the Bush-like "tough cop" for the
English-speaking world.
Chrétien, however, has gone beyond playing the "soft cop." He
is literally refusing to jump into the Free World's foxhole, while
calling his Liberal colleagues "nervous Nellies."
We have a bit of a double standard here. This obvious conflict,
unfortunately, will leave Canada in the embarrassing position of
having to make reparations, as the Swiss did, for playing both
sides against the middle.
After listing George W.'s mistakes -- a $500-billion deficit,
increasing unemployment, the fall of the American dollar, and so
on -- Chrétien conveniently avoids the "log in his own eye" -- a
national health care system that does not work, a brain drain
caused by socialism's triumph of mediocrity, a justice system that
caters to loonie left special interest groups, a nationwide rise in
crime which (per capita) might very well exceed that of New
York City, and a decimated military that Chrétien keeps
volunteering for peacekeeping missions abroad that it cannot
handle.
During his "remarkably unguarded" scrum, Chrétien was asked if
he planned to be the next Secretary General of the United
Nations. His reply, with the insouciance of a retired entertainer,
was that he had no such ambitions. He merely wanted to be a
columnist and comment upon history and events.
What his plan appears to be, however, is to remain among the
wizards of the UN, the leader of which may still be former
President Clinton.
Chrétien waxed nostalgic about his friendship with Clinton.
"We play golf together," he enthused.
I often wonder what their banter goes like in the buoyancy of the
19th hole.
It has been proven, certainly within the last decade, that power
overcomes money every time. Ross Perot's meteoric decline as a
credible candidate for President, albeit with profound help from
a liberal press labeling him as "crazy," reveals the inadequacy of
mere money when it comes to running for office. An insincere
liberal's "good intentions" can win more votes than the multi-
millionaire's seven-digit ads.
After whining about the Canadian press' treatment of him, the
PM then went out on a limb, startling the very press he had
chastised. To what purpose? Making sure that eventually Hillary
Clinton will sit in the Oval Office, perhaps with Janet Reno as her
personal assistant.
One can only surmise that Chrétien's main goal is to stay
somewhere within the socialist hierarchy's upper levels.
Becoming the Clinton family's campaign pit bull may be his bid
for immortality. Perhaps the soon-to-be-ex-Prime Minister of
Canada should retire in Havana or Moscow or Beijing. He
would most certainly get a hero's welcome there.
Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning
actor who has appeared in the landmark television series Law
and Order, the mini-series Holocaust, and the recent mini-series
Taken. In 2002 he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting
Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his work in James Dean.
Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com